At this months meeting we will have a presentation by Craig Showalter, President and CEO of the Wildlife Heritage Foundation of Wyoming. Try to make the meeting as I’m sure it will be interesting.

The Wyoming Hunting and Fishing Expo held on the 8th, 9th, and 10th of September was a success by all accounts. The North Platte Walleyes Unlimited volunteers were there in force on Saturday and we handed out 900 fishing poles with tackle kits. 25 of those went to Hanna, WY for distribution and another 25 went to Riverton, Wy. It was a little cool in the morning so each volunteer received a hooded sweatshirt with club logo on the front and back. Good work guys.

We received a request from CY middle school in Casper for a few poles to be used as incentive prizes for students of all grades who reach various goals. NPWU gave them 30 poles. I expect we will receive requests from other area schools.

We have started to contact other areas in Wyoming for possible kids fishing days programs. So far we have had contacts with folks in Wright, Cheyenne, and Gillette for possible events in which we will attend and distribute fishing poles to kids. Our program of giving away fishing poles to Wyoming kids has not gone unnoticed by various organizations. I think it is a real feather in our cap that we have such a program.

At each meeting we have a drawing from our complete membership. If that member is present, they win a $100 gift certificate from Sportsman’s Warehouse. We add $10 each month till we get a winner. The lucky loser from August was Mike and Deidre Homan and the lucky loser from September was Gary Julian. The prize this month will be $200.
Some preliminary contacts have been made regarding the possibility of having the Casper kids fishing day at the pond behind the Knife River offices on Brian Stock Trail. This pond is bigger and has bigger fish in it including walleye. If it happens, and that is currently a remote possibility it would be great to see a kid catch a walleye there. One of the problems to be overcome would be potential liability to the private property owners who own the east, west, and south shorelines.

From the Walleyes Forever newsletter:
Scientific literature suggests that mature females(greater than 3 or 4 years old) produceapproximately 25,000 eggs per pound of body weight. So, that 16.6-pound female we sampled early on this spring potentially produced approximately 415,000 eggs. Scientific literature also suggests an egg survival-to-emergence rate of approximately 10%. Again, that 16.6-pound female potentially has the chance to have 41,500 offspring swimming around out there this summer. That’s just one female walleye. So, a small number of large females (like the number of females we saw this spring) can potentially carry a population.

And now the more serious items...the SPACE FILLER

Who is the Eccentric One? Is it the violinist or the passers by?
Picture, if you will, the scene: Washington DC Metro Station one cold January morning a short while ago. This man is busking - playing his violin; he plays for about 45 minutes and completes six pieces by Bach.

Now, ask Will and Guy - does anyone take any notice? During that time approximately 2,000 people pass through the station, most of them on their way to work.

After 3 minutes a middle aged man notices there was a musician playing. He slows his pace and stops for a few seconds and then hurries to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later: The violinist receives his first dollar. A woman throws the money in the till and, without stopping, continues to walk.

6 minutes after that: A young man leans against the wall to listen to him, then looks at his watch and starts to walk again.

10 minutes later: A 3 year old boy stops but his mother tugs him along hurriedly, as the youngster stops to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushes hard and the child continues to walk, turning his head all the time. This action is repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forces them to move on.

45 minutes later: The musician plays on. Only 6 people have stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 have given him money but continued to walk at their normal pace.

He collected $32.[£19.76 GBP]

1 hour later: He finishes playing and silence takes over. No one notices. No one applauds, nor is there any recognition.

Now - who was the violinist?

No one knew this, but the violinist was *Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a Stradivarius violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theatre in Boston where the seats averaged $100. [£62 GBP]

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities. The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments .................How many other things are we missing?

Interesting, but essentially useless information.

* Only 55% of all Americans know that the sun is a star.

* The sound of E.T. walking was made by someone squishing her hands in Jello.

* Even if you cut off a cockroach’s head, it can live for several weeks.

* The world population of chickens is about equal to the number of people.

* Every time Beethoven sat down to write music, he poured iced water over his head.

* About 70% of Americans who go to college do it just to make more money.

* It’s against the law to catch fish with your bare hands in Kansas.

* Some toothpastes contain antifreeze.

* Sigmund Freud had a morbid fear of ferns.

* Spotted skunks do handstands before they spray

* Millie, the White House dog, earned more than 4 times as much as President Bush in 1999.

* Bird droppings are the chief export of Nauru, an island nation in the western Pacific.

* Spotted skunks do handstands before they spray.

* Most lipstick contains fish scales.

* Lee Harvey Oswald’s cadaver tag sold at an auction for $6,600 in 1992.

* Mosquitoes have teeth.

* Hypnotism is banned by public schools in San Diego.

* When snakes are born with two heads, they fight each other for food.

* Most cows give more milk when they listen to music.

Bert was travelling down a country road in his native Somerset, England when he saw a large group of people outside a farmhouse. It was a cold January afternoon, so he stopped and asked Farmer Jones why such a large crowd of men was gathered there.
The farmer replied, ’Harry’s donkey kicked his mother-in-law and she died.’
’Well, ’replied the man, ’She must have had a lot of friends.’
Nope, ’said Jones.’ We all just want to buy his donkey.’

Murphy’s Law #19: If there is a 50% chance of success, that means there is a 75% chance of failure.